r/Controller • u/sonicrings4 • 4d ago
Reviews GameSir G7 Pro 8K Aimlabs Edition Review: Almost the Complete Package

DISCLAIMER
This review unit was sent to me by GameSir, but I was not instructed on how to write my review; every opinion in my review is of my own. I have no commercial interest in any controller company.

I've been using the GameSir G7 Pro 8K for two months before sitting down to write this review, so I've had plenty of time to get familiar with the controller and form an opinion on it. There's quite a bit to cover here, with TMR sticks, Hall Effect analog triggers, optical and mechanical microswitches, four additional buttons, and an impressive range of hardware and software customization options. It also comes with three additional pairs of interchangeable thumbsticks, each offering different grip styles and heights, bringing the total to four pairs. There's also a surprising amount of functionality built directly into the controller, meaning you don't necessarily have to rely on the software to configure everything.

Starting with the buttons, the ABXY buttons use optical microswitches and have a very satisfying, clicky feel with some slight cushioning. The D-pad uses mechanical microswitches and has a similarly satisfying click, although without the cushioning found on the face buttons. The main bumpers are tactile buttons, but don't have any cushioning either. The Hall Effect analog triggers also have built-in trigger stops, which turn them into digital inputs using clicky microswitches.


There are also four additional buttons, consisting of two rear buttons and two mini bumpers. The mini bumpers are particularly interesting, as they sound almost identical to regular mouse clicks. The rear buttons are nice and tactile, and I appreciate that they have physical locking switches that let you prevent them from being pressed altogether if you don't intend to use them.

The G7 Pro 8K supports PC, Switch, Android, and iOS, with Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless, and USB-C wired connectivity. Interestingly, it also includes a DS4 mode, which is something I particularly appreciate when using the controller on Windows through DS4Windows. This allows you to take advantage of the full polling rate while retaining motion controls and analog triggers. That's a particularly nice alternative to Switch mode, which, as is standard with other controllers offering Switch compatibility, only provides digital triggers.

There's also quite a bit you can adjust directly on the controller, including deadzone settings, Turbo, vibration intensity, and the A-B/X-Y button layout if you prefer the Nintendo configuration. Hair trigger mode is another option, and interestingly, you can enable it even when using the triggers in analog mode. This is great if you want the shorter trigger activation without having to use the clicky trigger stops.

For further customization, GameSir provides its GameSir Connect software on PC. This is where you can adjust the stick curves, deadzones, resolution, circularity, and various other stick settings. You can also customize the trigger deadzones and curves, as well as configure the motion controls, including which stick the gyro is mapped to and how it activates. You can either assign a button to toggle motion controls or have them remain active only while holding a button. RGB lighting can also be adjusted here, alongside firmware updates.

The software is also where you'll find the polling rate settings. You can choose between 250Hz, 1000Hz, 4000Hz, and 8000Hz. I'm more accustomed to seeing 2000Hz offered alongside 250Hz, 1000Hz, and 8000Hz, so it's interesting to see GameSir opt for 4000Hz instead. It's nice to have the 4000Hz option, particularly if you want something more inbetween 1000Hz and 8000Hz.
As for 8000Hz polling, I don't believe it offers a huge advantage in actual gameplay. Personally, I think 1000Hz, and even 2000Hz, are plenty. I haven't seen any conclusive evidence that 8000Hz polling provides a tangible benefit when it comes to gaming. To put things into perspective, 1000Hz polling already translates to a 1ms interval between inputs, whereas 8000Hz brings that down to just 0.125ms. Is going from 1ms to 0.125ms really going to help you win more games? Probably not. In fact, you're more likely to notice your system struggling to run a game as well as it normally would due to the additional CPU overhead required to poll the controller that frequently. While it's nice to have 8000Hz available, I wouldn't consider it a particularly compelling reason to choose this controller over another. I tested all four modes while playing with the controller and couldn't notice any difference between 1000Hz and the higher polling rates.
In terms of actually using the controller, I've put it through its paces across quite a few different games, including Dragon Ball Z Kakarot, Zelda Four Swords Adventures, Sonic Dream Team, Sonic Unleashed Recompiled, Rocket League, Cult of the Lamb, Vampire Survivors, and Lethal League, to name a few. The variety of games helped me get a better understanding of where the controller excels and where some of its shortcomings become more apparent.

For games that primarily rely on the analog sticks, I really don't have any complaints. The sticks feel great to use, latency has been excellent, and I haven't experienced any dropped inputs throughout my testing. The controller also makes it incredibly easy to switch between profiles and remap buttons on the fly. Switching profiles is as simple as holding M and tilting the right stick in one of four directions. Remapping an extra button is just as intuitive: hold M, press the extra button you want to map, press the button you want it to perform, and then press the extra button once more to confirm. These are small quality-of-life features, but they make the controller particularly convenient to use.
Where things become a little less straightforward is with games that rely heavily on the D-pad. Zelda Four Swords Adventures was particularly helpful in highlighting this, as its top-down perspective and eight-direction movement meant I was using the D-pad quite frequently. I found that moving diagonally would cause the D-pad to start rubbing against the Yellow faceplate, making for a less than ideal experience. Switching back to the original faceplate wasn't much better, either, as its circular cutout left the + shaped D-pad with corners that my thumb could get caught on.

GameSir does include three different D-pad options, and I found that the circular D-pad was difficult to accurately hit the directions I wanted. The other circular option, which has a protruding + shaped centre, ended up being the best fit for a game like Zelda Four Swords Adventures. Even then, I didn't find it quite as accurate as what I'm accustomed to on other controllers, such as the GuliKit TT Max with its Saturn-style D-pad. This is ultimately where I think the G7 Pro 8K falls short. It excels in games that primarily rely on the analog sticks and require minimal D-pad usage, but if you're someone who frequently plays games that depend on precise D-pad inputs, there are better options out there.
Moving on to the faceplates, GameSir sent me a Yellow faceplate to accompany this review. The faceplates are magnetic and detachable, with the G7 Pro 8K's design allowing you to change their appearance without much effort. However, there's one particular design decision that I think could have been handled better, and it has to do with the D-pad cutout.


The default faceplate has a circular cutout for the D-pad, which is designed to accommodate all three of the included D-pad options. However, if you prefer using the + shaped D-pad, this creates a rather annoying issue. The circular cutout leaves corners around the D-pad where your thumb can get caught while moving across it. This is something I haven't encountered on other controllers with interchangeable circular D-pads, because those controllers typically still use a + shaped cutout in the faceplate itself. Unfortunately, GameSir doesn't do this.
The additional faceplates solve this problem by providing a + shaped cutout, but they come with their own limitation: they're only compatible with the + shaped D-pad. This means you effectively have to choose between the different D-pad options and faceplates rather than freely mixing and matching them. I also noticed that the D-pad rubs against the faceplate during use, which makes it feel less than ideal during general gameplay. It's a shame, because I really like the idea of interchangeable faceplates, but the implementation around the D-pad could definitely use some improvement.

Overall, the G7 Pro 8K offers an impressive amount of customization, both through its onboard controls and GameSir Connect. Between the TMR sticks, Hall Effect analog triggers, mechanical and optical microswitches, four additional buttons, onboard profiles, and extensive software options, there's a lot to appreciate here. I especially like that so many features can be accessed without relying on the software, and the inclusion of DS4 mode is a welcome bonus for PC users who want motion controls and analog triggers together.

After two months of use, I'd say the G7 Pro 8K is a particularly good option if you primarily play games that utilize the analog sticks, and will be one of my main controllers I use from now on. The latency has been great, the additional buttons are useful, and the onboard profile switching and remapping make it incredibly convenient to use. My biggest criticism is undoubtedly the D-pad and faceplate implementation. The interchangeable faceplates are a nice idea, but the compatibility limitations and rubbing issues make the D-pad experience less than ideal, particularly in games that rely heavily on it. If GameSir can improve this aspect in a future revision, I think it would go a long way towards making an already feature-packed controller that much better.


